Every action lives the life of its own despite your initial plans. There’s no way you can foresee what will come out of the things you do. This year when choosing Christmas cards I saw two familiar horns directed at me. And here it is – Ugnius’ deer brings Christmas on its horns all over Lithuania. And I sewed it thinking that Ugnius would ride it, but it was destined to sweep the floor more often than ride…

It seems I’ve been keeping my blog for the last couple of years only to appear in Christmas season and brag about the gifts I get. Sorry about that! But Daiva’s swap is a thing you can’t miss. Getting gifts is wonderful. Making gifts is wonderful. Learning new stuff is wonderful. This year I learned about a great new (for me) way to send items via mail (seems like magic, works like magic). And I also learned that I was so good this year because Uupsa put me a package of wonder.

After getting a gift at Mezgimo zona I couldn’t wait any longer, so I teared it open on a windowsill with a sheep and a monkey looking curiously at the content. It made me giggle a little bit as I pictured my fairy’s knitting hands. It’s so difficult for me to imagine anyone having a bigger shoe size than 4. Probably it’s the same for Uupsa and the size of the hands. So I got the perfect mittens for extreme cold and building snowmen – I can perfectly fit another pair of gloves underneath. Thank you! The hat fits perfectly warming my ears and accentuates the color of my eyes! See?

But don’t you think those are the only gifts. My little guy also got something and the big sweet-tooth in me got a oh-so-great orange jam. I’m on it, you just wait. The deer is going to roam the cookie dough tonight. And the cookies will go great with the marmalade… if, of course, there is anything left by the evening.Thank you, Uupsa, for the warm things and even warmer feelings!

Ir kai namuose pakvimpa… pirmiausia pakvimpa gerais darbais.
***And first of all it smells of wonderfull deeds.
Kvepia daugybe darbo, daugybe valandų mazgelių.
***It smells of long hours of French knots.
Ir norisi trumpam prigult, ir prisnūst ir atsikelt, kai jau švies saulė ir pievose ganysis avys.
***And all you want to do is to lie down, dream and wake up when the sun is shining and sheep are grazing in the meadows.
Tokiu metu būtiniausiai prisireikia piemens… nebūtinai avių, labiau – laiko.
***During such hours you need a shepard… not for the sheep, a shepard of time.
Todėl ačiū už viską Miadžikai! Tai ypatinga dovana. Ugnius kėsinasi ant pagalvėlės miegot. Jei būtų didesnė, miegočiau ir aš. Ir atsiprašau už tokį lėtą reportažą. Naujuose namuose teko naujai ieškoti pašto. Bet aš jį radau ir milžiniškai džiaugiuosi.
***So thank you for everything Magic. It’s such a special gift. Ugnius is telling me he wants to sleep on that pillow. If it were bigger, I would join him. And I’m sorry for such a slow demonstration. I had to find new post in the new home. But I found it and I’m extremelly happy.

How to make it? Soak your raisins in rum for at least 1-2 hours. Mix margarine with brown sugar till the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add baking powder and spices to the flour. Add everything to the margarine and egg mixture.

Add the raisins and the cut-up dried and candied fruit as well as nuts.

Grease the pan and pour the mixture.

Bake in the oven at 160–170 °C for about 2 hours. If you are baking it with half of the products, the baking time is about 1 hour.

This weekend I tried carving a pumpkin for our block fest. Ugnius asked me to make a happy face, so I made it to resemble Ugnius. Later in the evening it was great to see all those funny carved faces lit in a forest.